Little Foxes

Catch the foxes for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    for our vineyards are in blossom.

Song of Solomon 2:15

Song of Solomon has become my favorite book of the Bible in the last few years. Ray has spent some time teaching from it and he often uses it as a springboard for notes that he writes to me.

Thinking about this verse I have tried to identify some of the "little foxes" in my marriage and often think to myself, "I gave birth to the little foxes."

The girls take a lot of my time, but I also have to be honest with myself. It isn't just the girls. It's my own heart. I am easily distracted from the things that matter most. It does matter that I spend time with my children, but I can't let them get in the way of my relationship with the most important person in my life - my husband.

Because children are loud and have urgent needs, it is easy to let them invade too much into their parents' time. But as parents, we have to remember that urgent needs do not necessarily mean the most important needs.

However easy it is for me to blame my children for distracting me from my husband and his needs, I have to remember my own heart. It takes nothing for me to get side tracked and loose focus. You know the joke about the squirrel? "Oh, look, there's a squirrel!" It gets me every time. And there I am again, wondering what I was doing.

Staying close to scripture, listening to my husband and tuning out the world's noises are the best ways I know to stay in tune to my marriage. I love this picture of us because it puts into proper focus what I believe is my most important role in life - Ray's wife.